1. A Peninsula Shaped by Volcanoes

In Kunisaki, the rock itself was a place of training and a place of prayer. Natural rock caves and cliffs became the inner sanctuaries where ascetics secluded themselves to train — special spaces that sustained the faith of Rokugo Manzan. At Iwatoji, Futagoji, and Old Sentōji — the higher you climb the steep mountain path toward the inner sanctuary of Old Sentōji, the more vividly you sense the world of prayer the ascetics sought. The Mumyō Bridge at Tennenji, a narrow stone bridge spanning a cliff, is the final hardship on the way to the inner sanctuary, a place that symbolizes the severity of ascetic training. In Kunisaki, temples are not only buildings. The mountains and the rocks themselves became objects of faith, and people found the world of the Buddha within nature.

”Yaba” is an old word for a landscape woven from sheer rock peaks and strangely shaped crags. Across the Kunisaki Peninsula, too, spread scenes worthy of the name “yaba.” Futagoji and Mount Futago, Mount Monju and Monjusenji, Mount Sentō and Old Sentōji, Nakayama Senkyō and Tennenji — ranges of jagged crags and ancient temples become one, creating the mountain-worship scenery that represents Kunisaki. Here people found the world of the Buddha in the rock peaks, and nurtured their prayers together with that scenery. The stone culture lives not only in stone Buddhas and pagodas but in the very form of the mountains themselves.

Stone Buddhas and cliff-carved Buddhas (magaibutsu) are among the stone cultures that best represent Kunisaki. The faith of carving a Buddha directly into the rock itself still lives on all across the peninsula. The Kumano Magaibutsu are among the largest cliff Buddhas in Japan; a colossal Fudō Myōō and Dainichi Nyorai overwhelm all who come. At Maki Ōdō, precious Buddhist images once scattered among the temples have been gathered together, conveying this region’s Buddhist culture to the present day. The Kawanaka Fudō is a Fudō Myōō carved into a rock in the midst of a river’s flow — a quintessentially Kunisaki scene where nature and faith become one. At the Itsutsuji Fudō, you can feel the world of the mountain ascetics who trained again and again among these rugged peaks.

The Niō guardians that glare sharply at a temple’s mountain gate — in Kunisaki, almost all of them are carved in stone. The stone brought forth by the volcanoes, together with the skill of the people who carved it, creates scenery found only on this peninsula. The Niō of Futagoji welcome worshippers with their imposing physiques, while the Niō of Iwatoji give off the solemn air befitting a mountain temple. At the ruins of Old Sentōji, they convey to this day the history of the lost halls of a once-flourishing temple.

The Kunisaki-tō is a distinctive stone pagoda representative of this land, with a softly curving canopy and a base evoking a lotus pedestal. At Iwatoji, Senpukuji, and Futagoji remain pagodas known as prime examples of the Kunisaki-tō. A stone pagoda also survives at the Iwashimizu Bekkū, quietly telling how deeply the faith of shinbutsu-shūgō — the fusion of gods and Buddhas — once lived in this land.

The gorintō is a stone pagoda based on the Buddhist idea of representing the universe through five elements — earth, water, fire, wind, and void. Many were built in Kunisaki from medieval times, and they still stand quietly at temple ruins, along old pilgrimage routes, and beside ancient training paths in the mountains. None is especially large, but on stone surfaces weathered by long years is engraved the history of the people who once offered their prayers here. In Kunisaki you may come upon a gorintō unexpectedly, not only within temple grounds but on a remote mountain path. That, too, is one of the scenes that tell how the faith of Rokugo Manzan spread across the whole peninsula.

In the Edo period, stone monuments imbued with the villagers’ faith and wishes — Kōshin steles (kōshintō), pilgrimage memorial steles (kaikoku kuyō-tō), and the like — came to be raised in many places. Kōshin steles remain in abundance at village entrances and along roadsides, conveying prayers close to village life: for people’s health, for the safety of the household, and for warding off misfortune. Pilgrimage memorial steles were raised to commemorate pilgrimages through the provinces and in hope of their merit. These roadside monuments convey a stone culture rooted in the everyday life of the villagers.

Stone was used not only for Buddhist images and pagodas but also for building the paths by which people walked the mountains toward places of prayer. In Kunisaki, stone bridges, stone steps, and stone pavements together supported the ways of the mountain ascetics. Long stone stairways lead up to the temples, stone pavements make steep mountain trails easier to walk, and small stone bridges were built to cross valleys and streams. None is showy architecture, but all are precious works of civil engineering that have long sustained countless ascetics and pilgrims. Even today, walking through Kunisaki, stone steps and bridges laid centuries ago are used as a matter of course. It tells how, on this peninsula, stone has supported both daily life and faith.